In making curtains, drapes, shawls, table cloths, bellpulls, pillows, and the like, tassels are often utilized to provide a desired aesthetic appearance. Tassels are also widely used in academic and religious ceremonies, wherein a tassel is attached to a cap. The present invention relates to an improved device for fabricating tassels for any of the above-mentioned purposes.
Prior-art devices for creating tassels provide a base member having grooved rectangular members extending therefrom. Yarn or other tassel material to be employed is wound about these members, tied, and cut to create a tassel. Some prior-art devices also provide a means for adjusting the distance between the grooved members to create tassels of various sizes. When a sufficient number of wrappings have been made about the rectangular members, a short piece of yarn is inserted through the groove underneath the windings around the top grooved element. The short piece of yarn is then knotted around the windings so that the top windings of the tassel are securely fastened together. Another short length of yarn is tied around the windings at a location between the two grooved elements to form the head of the tassel. Finally, the windings are cut along the groove provided in the lower grooved element to release the yarn windings from around that element. The completed tassel is then removed from the top grooved element, thereby completing the creation of a tassel.
In the prior art, the grooved members consist of two flat side walls connected by a bottom wall recessed therebetween to provide a groove. Therefore, tassel yarn is wound around members having a basic rectangular shape with right-angle corners. These corners tend to damage the tassel yarn being wound thereabout. Prior-art tassel making devices also either omit the provision of a handle for making the device easy to use or merely provide a flat hand grip portion along an edge of the base member, which can be awkward and, therefore, tiresome to hold and manipulate for any length of time. Prior-art devices also do not provide a means for supplying tassel yarn to the device. In the prior art, the supply source for the tassel yarn is not incorporated into the device, which has been found in the present invention to markedly increase the ease with which tassels can be made by one person.
Thus, there exists a need in the art for a tassel making device that provides a handgrip portion for manipulating the device for an extended period of time without causing discomfort to the hand. A need also exists for a tassel making device that does not have corners on its grooved members, which may tend to damage the tassel yarn. The need also exists for tassel making apparatus that incorporates a supply source of the tassel yarn into its construction.